The owner of multiple North Dakota trucking companies has admitted to hiring a hit-man to kill two associates in order to help his business succeed. One of the two men was a driver for one of his companies, the other a business partner, but both were perceived as a threat to the bottom line.
As part of his guilty plea, James Henrikson admitted to hiring a man by the name of Timothy Suckow to kill one of his employees. According to court documents, Henrickson wanted his employee, Kristopher Clarke, dead because he was worried that he was going to start a competing trucking company and he didn’t want the competition. So, in a shockingly cold and callous move, Henrickson paid Suckow $20,000 to beat Clarke to death with a jack handle at a truck stop and bury the body.
Since investigators still have not found Clark’s body, it is possible that Henrikson may use its location as a bargaining chip to try and get his sentence reduced. According to Lissa Yellowbird-Chase, a member of the Sahnish Scouts nonprofit group that has been trying to find Clark’s body, there’s not much chance that Henrickson will help them find the body without getting something in return.
“He’ll take that location to his grave unless he gets a deal,” she said. “I’m not depending on him at all.”
Henrikson’s second victim was Doug Carlile, his 63 year-old business partner who was gunned down in his home in Spokane, WA. Before the shooting, Carlile borrowed a gun from one of his sons and told another that “If I disappear or wake up with bullets in my back, promise me you will let everyone know that James Henrikson did it.”
Given that Henrikson was so clearly implicated, police questioned him. He denied having killed Carlile, but claimed that the man owed him $2 million. According to an assistant U.S. attorney however, there was no indication that Carlile had taken any money from Henrikson.
Once the investigation was completed, Suckow, Henrikson, and some others who were involved were all arrested and received various charges. Suckow has pled guilty and is expected to receive up to 30 years in prison while federal prosecutors will seek a 40 year sentence for Henrikson.
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Source: bendbulletin, pennenergy, oregonlive
Max says
so long as that sentence includes a weekly beating with a jack handle, I’m ok with it.
Geo says
I love that comment.
I would personally just force him to work for the company I do for a year…
That be about enuff to make him beat himself with a jack handle.
David says
Eye for an eye tooth for a tooth. For every year of lost love from the now dead, so should the bearings equal.
Jim says
Perhaps that jack handle should be inserted into a certain part of the anatomy.
Rick Smith says
40 years for killing two men? 20 years per man?
THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN AMERICA AT ALL.
THIS S.O.B. SHOULD be taken out tomorrow
and hung by his neck until dead along with the
hitman. If the deceased were my loved ones, I
wouldn’t want these murderers to get ONE LESS
DAY behind bars in return for their bodies.
I’d put a marker in the cemetery with this inscription.
“They don’t know where my body lies, but they DO
know where my murderer’s bodies lie.
At least for a little while.”
Infosaur says
Set your calendar, be waiting for him when he leaves. Check for windage.
David Stout says
I agree with you. 40 years for killing two people, seems low.
Stormhunter says
http://www.krem.com/story/news/local/spokane-county/2015/07/24/man-in-murder-for-hire-accused-of-jail-escape-plot/30654137/
Cheyenne says
I know my last bosses behavior concerns me. Very obsessed & angry…hope they dont see this and get any ideas 🙁
harddazeknight says
That’s a picture of Henrikson , the owner. He does have a kind of ‘psycho thug’ look! Make that a HUGE gun… like a .600 Nitro Express– that should do the job. TIP: Use both hands to shoot the thing, and maybe a strap and ratchet… and a seat belt, if possible.
Audrey Carter says
A jackhandle at a truckstop?!?! Geez. Did he post it on facebook too? Its terrible that someone could do this.. and tragic that a life was taken but….I am speechless..
Hank says
Too many vice people in this industry, from the truckers, the trainers, to the carrier themselves.
Duff says
I’m not surprised. He fits right in with the rest of the criminals in the trucking industry. Just because someone wears a suit and sits in a CEO’s office doesn’t make him any less of a thieving lier. Anyone who’s ever been paid “practical” or “Rand McNally” or “zip code to zip code” can tell you all how blatantly dishonest these people can be. You want to know part of the reason why there’s such a shortage of “qualifed” drivers? That’s part of it.
James Pursell says
You are 100 percent correct! The treatment of drivers in this God-forsaken industry disgusts me. I have only been in it for twenty years, 18.5 on the road and 1.5 in management and what I have seen on both sides should be outlawed. #1. pay all drivers by the hour. So they are compensated for all their labor. Stop flushing people through a three week trucking school and then release them to team not expecting something stupid or bad to happen. But you know what? If drivers would stop being such cowards and start saying NO!!!! and walking, the atmosphere of this industry would change almost overnight!!!!!! But Americans have lost their guts to stand up for what is right and fair, hence you see why this Country is going down the toilet.
Jim says
The trouble with drivers walking out is, that’s EXACTLY what the trucking company owners want. Then, they’ll fill their trucks with Mexican drivers who will work for even less. They might even move operations down to Mexico as per NAFTA. We already see lots of “KenMex” trucks lumbering around on bald tires, equipment falling off, loose fenders banging against the hood, etc. On that subject, I want to know why THESE jokers get to go along their jolly way while AMERICAN drivers are given roadside colonoscopies if there is ONE little thing out of place.
ether bawny says
maybe…or the government would simply import the labor..imagine how many third world nations could fill the two million jobs for what would feel like a big wage to them.
Shoshi says
its all about money and power in ND.
donald says
Yeah that’s ridiculous. 40 years in prison? That’s Capital Murder in Texas. They probably would stick his ass. And rightfully so.
Randy says
Simple. Life for Life. Death sentence is only true justice.
Steve N says
How do you figure? A death sentence is letting him off! SUFFERING behind bars decade, after decade, after decade ( hopefully with an involuntary realationship or two) is punishment. I’m not saying if that was my loved ones I wouldn’t find a way to put a bullet in his head, but that’s only if I got to do it.
MamaWolf says
But the taxpayer is who would really suffer paying for his 4square a day, clothing, laundry, cable tv…. death means we only pay for a grave.
who says
what in the he!! has this world come to??? after reading the story, it’s no wonder americans are turning away from trucking… we give up everything, end up with nothing.spend are live going through an mercilessness he!! to serve our country. and now it appears we have to watch out for hit men being paid by our employers wanting us dead. diamn!!!!! thought i would never live to see things like this happening to truckers.
ether bawny says
the entire country is getting like this..top positions are being filled by mentally unstable people
Dave says
Keep in mind that most convicts only serve half of the given sentence. Both of these scumbags could be out on the street in 15 / 20 years.
Britney B says
The greed of people is disgusting… Maybe someone will hire a hit-man that resides in the same prison where this guy gets placed? Maybe get a jack handle somehow gets smuggled in to do the deed?